Mirrors tell the worst of lies
by Drippin'Ink
Summary: All ninja have a way to cope when they get back from missions. Iruka is no different, but his way is a bit different. Kakashi wants to help him. KakaIru. Yaoi. Is rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

~*Mirrors tell the worst of lies*~

**A/N: Greetings everyone! Look at me! Posting something so soon .3. I'm going to try and post something every weekend if I can. Simply because I like writing and why not write fanfics? (because I'm writing a book but kind of avoiding it at the moment -.-') Anyways~ Thanks for all the favs and follows and such from my darling readers! I really do love you guys! You and your reviews (hint hint) make writing all of these worth it! This is going to be at least two or three chapters long so I hope you like it ^.^**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, Naruto is not mine. However I would gladly accept Kakashi and Iruka…. And everyone else as well if the opportunity arrived xD**

**Warnings:Yaoi! That be boy on boy lovins! No likey? No ready! Nothing for this chappy other than some sorta angst(?) stuff and such, however I miiigghhhttt toss a little sumtin sumtin in a later chapter if I get enough requests for it~ (yet another hint to review)**

~*Breaker o' the line*~

The man stood there, observing his reflection in the full body mirror. His tan skin showed in all its naked glory, muscles standing out against the wet skin. Dark brown hair, wetted to an almost black shade, stuck in strands to his neck and shoulders. Chocolate eyes hazed as they mapped every scar along his torso and legs. He reached up and traced a few of the older blemishes with an index finger. He followed one up his side to the end of it just underneath his collarbone. He let his hand continue its way up his neck and along his cheek to trace the smooth lighter colored scar across the bridge of his nose. He let his limb drop back down to a new deep gash he'd just received on his mission.

"Hideous." He said to the mirror. He let out a hiss of pain as he jabbed at the new wound. This was how he coped. Some ninjas came back and shut themselves away, others jumped in the first open bed to spread their legs in, and some drank enough to put Tsunade on a run for her money. Others had weird little quirks that helped them, chewing a senbon, inhaling dango, wearing tight spandex and yelling about the 'youthful hipness' of it, or even openly reading porn and constantly being late for everything. This is what Iruka did.

"Disgusting." His fingers moved to another slice on his bicep and painfully twisted his fingers into it, causing pain to enfold his whole arm and the warmth of blood to coat his fingertips. He had to remind himself that he was nothing more than trash, something for people to look at and then grimace before leaving and never thinking of him again. That he deserved every one of these scars for being so stupid. That he was just being selfish by breathing the air more important people could use. That he was useless.

His hand reached up and over his shoulder so that he could curl his digits into a ragged slash between his shoulder blades. That one would leave a scar over the scar from the Naruto incident. A scar upon a scar. "A tool."

He should have died on this mission, but instead, his fellow-better- shinobi had used some of the little chakra he'd had left to make his wounds non-life threatening before proceeding to carry his unconscious body to safety then collapsing himself. "Dead weight." He spread the skin on either side of a wound along his thigh apart so it reopened and sent shots of pain through the limb.

He stood there for a few hours just poking and prodding and clawing at his wounds while spitting harsh words at his quivering, bleeding reflection. After black started to tint the edges of his vision, he stood underneath an uncomfortably hot shower. "Iruka, you're so useless and stupid. All you ever do is get in people's way and cause them problems. You never really do anything important. If you disappeared no one would even notice." Iruka muttered this to himself, and then turned the heat of the water to its coldest setting. After more downgrading, he turned the stream of water off and got out of the shower. His skin felt like it was freezing and burning at the same time, especially over a huge burn across his left calf and lower back. Instead of crawling underneath the covers to sleep and forget about the mission and his own stinging words, Iruka let his knees give way at the end of the bed and curled up on the ground. He didn't feel like he deserved the comfort of a bed right now, though his was hard and uncomfortable anyways. "Monster." Was the last thing he said to his shivering self before closing his eyes and letting his silent tears mix with the water on his face before nightmare filled sleep took him.

~*Breaker o' the line*~

Iruka woke, though it didn't feel like he slept at all. He cracked his eyes open and, seeing a very weak ray of sunshine along the wall, sat up and stretched out his cramped muscles. He winced as he felt the wound between his shoulders shift. Last night he might have felt the urge to punish himself for his actions on his mission but today he didn't want to feel any of it. Standing up, he put his hands on his hips and leaned back to pop his spine. At the pressure put on his left wrist, his felt a small twinge of pain shoot up his forearm. Maybe he'd sprained or fractured it. Ignoring it for now, Iruka went over to the open window and looked up at the sky. There were gray clouds covering most of the sun's warm rays to settle Kohnaha down for a chilly morning. That would be one reason why it had been so cold the previous night.

Sliding the glass shut, the Chunnin went over to his old wooden dresser. He pulled on a pair of boxers and baggy black sweat pants. For a moment, he wondered if he should go to the hospital to get his wounds healed for him, since he wasn't the best healer. He spilt his hair down the middle, pulled half of it over his shoulder, and then proceeded to brush it with the brush he grabbed from the vanity set that used to belong to his mother. "Maybe later, if they start to bother me too much." He muttered to himself as he pulled the prickles of the brush through his still damp hair. Just as he finished pulling an annoyingly stubborn knot into a smooth position, a loud knock came from the door. Sighing, he tossed the brush onto his perfectly made bed and went to answer it. The slash on his thigh crinkled and pulled with every flex of his muscles, causing him to wince. He reached out with his chakra to sense who was on the other side of the door, there was no way he could mistake that signature. Bracing himself, Iruka unlocked the door and opened it.

Actually, he only cracked the door before it was forcefully shoved the rest of the way open. "IRUKA-SENSEI!" There was a flash of gold before the world fell up and the floor decided being against Iruka's back was much better than underneath his feet. The sudden movement and force caused pain to ripple its way through the teacher's body, and a slight hiss to escape from between his teeth, even as began grinning. Throwing his arms around the weight lying across him.

"Nice to see you too, Naruto."

The blonde head popped up into his clear view, the whiskered face stretched with its normal white-toothed smile. "You're back!"

"That I am, now get off, you've gotten heavy." He pushed the boy, er, young man, off of him. He had to remember that the knucklehead wasn't such a kid-despite how he acted- anymore. He frowned, his little 'adopted brother' wasn't as a little as the kids he-. He shook his head; he wasn't going to think about that anymore, and sat up.

"Since you're back, we have to get ramen to celebrate! And then I can tell you what the teme di-..." Naruto's blue eyes suddenly narrowed and raked across the Chunnin's exposed skin. "You're hurt." He said bluntly. The serious heaviness that hung around the blonde was off putting and maybe even a little alarming.

"It's just a few scratches, nothing to worry about." Iruka said with a, hopefully, comforting grin. He ruffled the blonde's hair, and then used his head to push himself up. Ignoring Naruto's loud complaints, he started down the hall. "Give me a minute to get ready, and then we can go get some ramen, alright?" Going back to his bedroom, the Chunnin started digging through his dresser. Knowing he'd need clothes that would at least somewhat hide the blood if his wounds reopened, he grabbed an old deep maroon button up shirt. The fabric was thick enough to get a little blood on it without seeping through, but thin enough that it wouldn't get too hot or be heavy. It was also loose enough to be comfortable and easy to move in. Then he put on a pair of black jeans that were a bit too big around his totally not feminine waist so they settled low on his hips. Rolling up the sleeves to his elbows, leaving two buttons on the top undone (though it still hid the cut on his collar bone), and one where it met his jeans, Iruka decided to just keep his hair in a loose ponytail at the base of his neck. He stood in front of the mirror and looked at his appearance. "Hideous. Disgusting." The words he'd told himself last night echoed in in his mind. His eyes darkened for a moment before he shook the words from his mind, Naruto couldn't see him like that.

After strapping a kunai underneath his pants on his calf (he was still a ninja after all) Iruka grabbed his wallet, he walked back out to the living room to find Naruto eyeing the ceiling fan with a grin and carefully testing how much weight it could hold. "I swear to God, Naruto, if that fan breaks..." He used his best threating teacher voice, and had to hold in an amused snort when the blonde in question jumped and shoved his hands behind his back. Instead, he just rolled his eyes and started toeing his sandals on. "Come on, let's go get that ramen."

~*Breaker o' the line*~

Kakashi had gone to the mission room that night to turn in his 4 week late report to a certain tan Chunnin only to find that he wasn't there. He knew that the man had been on a mission, but that had ended a week ago so he should have been back on desk duty again. He looked over his issue of Icha Icha at the unrecognized man sitting in Iruka's normal spot.

"Welcome back, Hatake-san. Do you have your re-?"

"Where's Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi knew he was being rude to the man by cutting him off, not that he particularly cared either way, but he wanted to know where his dolphin was.

"Oh... uhh, Iruka-sensie just got back a few hours ago, so he's probably at home. Now, do you have your report?"

Bluntly, ignoring the desk worker, the jounin quickly flashed through the needed hand signs for a teleportation jutsu and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Why was Iruka late? He was never late. Was he okay? Was he hurt? What had happened? What was his mission? The silver haired man felt his feet touch the ground in front of the teacher's apartment complex and barely waited for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness before running around the building. He focused his chakra into the soles of his feet as he ran up the tree planted there. He stopped and crouched down on a very familiar branch and looked into the cause of his worries bedroom window. He swore, the tree must have been planted there by whatever god there was for him, it was perfect. It was in the perfect place, with just enough leaves that it covered him and still allowed for easy viewing, and on a few branches over it was the same for the living room window. No, he wasn't being creepy, he was merely ... making sure the Chunnin was alright... very often... without him knowing about the checkups...

It seemed the man wasn't home though, and it caused a small surge of panic to shoot through him. He jumped from his spot in the tree to land carefully on the window seal. From this angle, Kakashi could see that the uniformed vest Iruka normally wore had been tossed and hit a mirror on an old looking vanity set so that it angled to show inside the conjoined bathroom.

Normally, the perverted jounin would have loved to see the tanned man standing there naked, but seeing those fingers curled in a wound and lip-reading the word 'disgusting' was a slight turn-off. In fact, it made him see red for whoever made him feel that way, yet also made him want to turn to mush and run over to comfort him. If he went in at the moment though, for one he'd probably get something sharp chucked at his face, but he'd probably also terrify the man into never wanting to see him again. And so he sat, crouched there on the window seal, watching his secret love hurt himself further and mutter words the exact opposite of what he was. When the brunette finally went to sleep, on the ground to Kakashi's dismay, the jounin slipped the cracked window open and slid inside. He quietly walked over and set the mirror in the room right, and put the vest down on the ground next to it. Then he went over and stroked a few wet pieces of hair from Iruka's face, and judging from his looks the poor Chunnin seemed to be having a night terror*. "Beautiful. Kind. Helpful. Loving. Adored." The string of praises continued in a quiet whispered voice until dawn when he slipped back out the window. He'd have to get closer to the Chunnin. Try to make him understand that mirrors can tell the worst of lies.

~*Breaker o' the line*~

**Night terror- It's sort of like a really really really bad nightmare... on crack. It is extremely difficult to wake somebody from a night terror, which is why Iruka didn't wake up from the very gentle touches and soft words from Kakashi.**

**Hehe, so? Do you like it? I know I'm not the greatest writer here, and this is mostly just brain vomit but I really liked writing this (even though I had to make my little Ruru like that ;3;) I started writing this from a prompt we were given in my creative writing class .w. And I got a weird sort-of glare from my teacher when I refused to let her read it ._. Ah, but whatever. I hope it didn't get to confusing. Remember to review! Those drive me to update (though I'm not going to be all "I'm not updating till I get _ reviews!" cause I hate that .) You can give me some constructive criticism if you wish, and by 'constructive criticism' I don't mean to bash the whole thing or flame. Thank you for reading!**

**~Drip~**


	2. Chapter 2

~*Mirrors tell the worst of lies*~

**A/N: BAM! I'm actually updating on time TwT I feel so proud of myself! This chapter is kinda long compared to the last but I just felt like if I cut it off earlier it would just be… wrong…. I don't know xD  
Special thanks to Helli and Meg for the reviews! I really do appreciate them! –huggles you both-  
Warnings: This story is yaoi! That's m/m pairings! Don't like don't read!  
Also my thoughts of how my little Ruru would be drunk –w- **

**Disclaimer: -folds pockets inside out- AH! I lost my Naruto! … Oh wait… I never owned it to begin with…. Sad day ;-: **

~*Breaker o' the line*~

_Slurp! _The caramel-skinned man's eyebrow twitched. That was probably the 20th time he'd heard that disgusting sound come from the blonde next to him since they'd gotten to Ichiraku's Ramen. Slowly, he put his bowl down and placed the chopsticks across the rim of it. He turned in his seat so he could look at his companion. The other sat there, happily slurping ramen noodles into over-stuffed whiskered cheeks, before adding the now-empty bowl to a rapidly growing stack next to him. "Naruto…"

Blue eyes turned to his ex-sensei. "Yes, Iruka-sensei?" He purposefully tried to make the honorific sound extra respectful. He knew that look he was getting a bit too well.

"What have I told you about slurping?" The teacher's voice was starting to creep the blonde out a bit.

"That it's gross and I shouldn't do it…"

"Good. Now if I hear it from you one more time, I swear I'm going to make you pay for every one of your bowls of ramen yourself." He could practically hear the color drain from his ex-student's face.

"You know he doesn't have that much money, sensei." The tanned Chunnin jumped at the words said into his ear, and his hand dropped to the hidden kunai at the hand on his shoulder. Stabbing the unwanted pale hand would result in it being pinned to his shoulder though, so he simply shrugged it off instead. Iruka turned to glare at the silver-haired man whose only visible eye was turned into a happy upside down 'u.'

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Kakashi-sensei. I almost just sliced your fingers off." For some reason, the deep quiet chuckle that came from the masked man just managed to piss him off even more. It was probably just post-mission irritation, or so he told himself. Kakashi seemed to choose to ignore the almost Uchiha-like glare coming from the teacher though.

Naruto, in an attempt at breaking the heavy air hanging around the two older men, asked, "Kakashi-sensei! Why're you here?"

"Well, you see…" The man went off in a long, drawn out story of how he'd been walking down the road of life when a frog had hopped into his path and told him that a white deer needed to meet with the forest princess but was being held captive by the mud king. And how he'd persuaded the mud king with the latest issue of Icha Icha into letting the deer go and how he took it to the forest princess who had told him to help a fellow shinobi after a tough mission. "And so, I'm here to ask Iruka-sensei if he would like to go out for some drinks tonight."

Iruka, who'd calmed down enough to find the tale amusing, blinked in surprise. Well that wasn't how he'd expected it to end… "Uhh... well…" Kakashi was looking at him expectantly, "Tonight's a school night so…" He scratched at the scar along his nose. Actually, he just didn't want to go out because he knew he couldn't hold his liquor to save his life. Plus, it would be completely mortifying if he got drunk in front of Kakashi, _Sharingan no Kakashi. _Especially how he acted when he was drunk…

"But you just got back from a mission, and Academy teachers have to take a minimum of 2 days off after a mission before returning to work."

Damn. He didn't think Kakashi would know that. Turning him down now would be plain rude and it was just a few drinks not a date or anything… And Naruto was looking so damn happy about the thought of them hanging out. "Well…. Just one or two drink then…" Kakashi smiled at him; well he at least assumed he did by the wrinkles at the edge of his mask. Naruto was practically beaming as he slurped up another bowl of noodles.

Iruka's eyebrow twitched. "I'll meet you at the shinobi bar at 6:30 then." He turned to Naruto as he placed a few dollars by his own half-finished bowl. "I warned you." Then, with a mischievous grin, disappeared in a puff of smoke. He busted into laughter as soon as his feet hit his living room floor. He was going to have Naruto mad at him for a while (probably only few hours) but it was totally worth the look on his face and the strangled noise he made.

~*Breaker o' the Line*~

Kakashi, dressed in a black long sleeve (mask attached of course) and blue jeans and a silver strip of silk across his left eye, walked into the bar at exactly 7:30. The lighting was dimmed but not dark. He scanned the room with his visible grey eye and found Iruka, in his clothes from earlier, sitting in the back corner with a bottle of sake. Kakashi walked over and sat down opposite of the teacher with a 'yo!'

Iruka didn't even glance up at him. "You're late." He murmured as he sipped the clear liquid from his saucer.

"Sorry about that," he scratched the back of his head, "I got-"

"Lost on the road of life?" the other man finished for him. He looked up at Kakashi with an I'm-slightly-annoyed-but-buzzed-enough-to-not-care look.

Judging from the alcohol-induced flush on those tan cheeks, and the slightly dull look in typically bright brown eyes, Kakashi guessed that Iruka either had a really nice buzz going on or was well on his way to being drunk. He could also see new bandages poking out from underneath the shirt, but chose to ignore that. "Yes, that's right."

"And then did a unicorn tell ya that a lil old lady fell in some ditch 'nd needed 'elp getting out?" Iruka chuckled a little and cracked a cheeky grin.

"Of course not, that would be ridiculous." The jounin's eye turned into a happy upside down 'u'. "It was a weasel that came and told me that some old lady came and fell on their house and refused to move."

The Chunnin let out a bark of laughter. " 'course it was." He poured another cup of sake and handed it to Kakashi before refilling his. When the man had gotten there, Iruka had planned on giving him a lecture for being late but after waiting an hour and a warm feeling wrapping its way around his mind thanks to sake, he'd forgotten the words he'd thought of. "Kakashi?" The name came out as a question instead.

Said man quirked an eyebrow at the lack of an honorific. Every time he had tried that, he had ended up with a glare, a lecture, or something 'accidentally slipping' from the teacher's hand. Not that he minded in the slightest. "Yes, Iruka?"

"Why did ya wanna come drinkin' with me? 'm borin' 'nd everyone knows it." The younger man slumped down in his seat a little more, putting into his drink. Of course, all everyone thought he did was teach a bunch of brats and yell at anyone who messed up on their mission reports. To anyone else, he had no social life, not that he really had much of one anyways but he did have _some _of one.

"Are you really boring? Or do you just do the boring things first?"

Iruka blinked, no one had ever asked him that before. All anyone saw was a paper-pushing ninja; nobody ever questioned what happened when all that papers were filed. A small grin spread across his scarred face, looking underneath the underneath, eh?

"Either way though, I really did ask you for drinks to help you relax after your mission. You don't take many and I heard this one was actually a mid-B rank mission." Actually, the jounin had tried to read the man's report to see what had happened on it only to find that the papers weren't there. Very strange for the usually punctual teacher.

Iruka stiffened slightly. "Well it's not like I can't-" His eyes widened and he seemed to sober up just a half-notch. "Shit! My report!" The younger man started to scramble out of the booth.

"What's wrong, Iruka?" Kakashi feigned innocence as to what was going on. It wouldn't due to creep the man out to know that he'd gone through his papers.

"My report! It was due yesterday and I haven't even started it!"

Kakashi's eyebrow rose a little bit. He'd known that the Chunnin hadn't turned it in but had just assumed that it was done. "Iruka you've drunken too much to write a proper report. Besides, tonight is to wind you down, not remember the details."

Iruka caught himself on the edge of the table before sighing. "I 'aven't drinkin that much…."he muttered before sinking back down into his seat. He reached for the sake bottle again only to glare at Kakashi's smiling eye when he took it from him.

"Maa, don't hog it all." The jounin was a bit surprised at how light the bottle was.

"Fine. You can keep it then." Standing again, Iruka made his way over to the bar and got two shots of scotch. He came back to the table and kept both shots closer to him and out of Kakashi's reach.

"Iruka, are you sure you want to do that….?" The teacher tossed the amber liquid back.

"Its been a long time since I let m'self drink a lot, 'Kashi. I think it's okay." The other shot.

"At least slow down a little…"

~*Breaker o' the Line*~

30 minutes and quite a few shots later, Kakashi was helping a swaying, giggling Iruka out of the bar. "A-and then, he g'ts 'is scarf stuck 'n the trap 'nd sets it off! So all th's purple paint shoots all o'vr 'im nstead of me, didn't come off for a week!" Iruka busted into another fit of giggles. The jounin chuckled a bit the image of a purple Konohamaru running around the village popped into his mind. Two civilian women passed them singing an up-beat, though off-key, song and dancing around with each other.

Iruka stopped suddenly and looked after the women as though he was confused. Kakashi was about to ask him if he knew them when a grin slowly spread across the younger man's face. "Kasshiii~, do ya wanna go dancin?"

Kakashi blinked. That wasn't something he'd expected. "Ruka, you're drunk."

"But it'll be fuunnn! I go all the time!" The dolphin said, pulling the jounin's sleeve a little and fluttering his eyelashes.

Damn, how could he say no to that. "Only a few songs. Then I'm taking you home." He said, before being led by an overly happy Chunnin down the street to a green door with a small but flashing sign above it. The music inside could practically be felt outside the door. Kakashi really didn't want to go in but Iruka had already opened the door to a wave of overly-loud music and the smell of liquor, sweat, hormones, and sickly thick perfume. He groaned a little when he was pulled into the middle of the withering mass of colorfully clad people. A few of them called out to Iruka, making the silver-haired man a bit surprised.

The song abruptly changed. Iruka spun around, almost falling due to his liquor intake, and grabbed both of Kakashi's hands. "Oh my god!" He had to all but yell to be heard. "I _**love this**_ song!" Then immediately started dancing to it. He had to give the 'paper-pusher' some credit. He had moves. The short moment of amusement was ended when half the people within earshot (or so it seemed) laughed and called over at them "Ru-koi! You love _every _song!" Kakashi was starting to wonder if 'all the time' really _did_ mean 'all the time.'

During the moment of serious contemplation, Kakashi didn't catch his drunken Chunnin when he slipped. Of course, he would have caught him before he hit the floor had he not fallen onto the chest of some other guy. Said man leered and openly groped the Iruka's ass.

For a moment, both Kakashi and Iruka looked surprised. Iruka recovered quickly though before reacting in quite the opposite way that the jounin had expected. Instead of flipping out on the man, Iruka actually grinned and started grinding back against the stranger's lap. Then it finally set in and Kakashi was furious at the man when the man put his completely unscarred hands on the Chunnin's hips to pull him closer. This man wasn't worthy of _his _Iruka. The glare Kakashi threw at the civilian bested even Sasuke's I'm-seriously-going-to-skin-you glare. The civilian man paled tremendously, released the drunken teacher, and quickly made his way through the crowd. Smart man.

He was still glaring after the man when tan arms slipped around his neck. "Oh c'mon, Kashi. I was just dancing, wasn't gonna do nuttin with 'im." Iruka said, looking up at him. There was something in the tan man's face that Kakashi couldn't quite place through the drunken haze. Then the Chunnin closer so he was talking into his ear. " 'Sides, ya said _you _were gonna take me 'ome."Kakashi was about to explain his word further when he let out a, totally manly, squeak. Iruka licked the shell of his ear again and started to grind his slim body against the other's thigh.

"Ahh, Iruka…" Suddenly, slim arms were around Iruka's neck so the feminine hands connected to them were clutching to the front of his shirt.

"Ru-koi~!" An annoyingly high pitched voice drawled from red glossed lips. The woman dangling from the dolphin fluttered her overly mascaraed eyelashes and leaned in closer. "Won't you dance with me?" She said in what was, probably supposed to be, a seductive voice. Kakashi twitched in annoyance. Couldn't she see that they were….dancing? Iruka turned to look at her.

"S'rry lady, 'm gay!" The younger man's voice sounded very chipper about it. The woman blinked once, twice, then blushed heavily and walked back through the crowd.

Kakashi kept true to his word and, after a few more songs that Iruka just _loved, _they were standing in Iruka's apartment. The teacher, in all his drunken smoothness, all but through himself at the silver-haired man as soon as the door was closed.

His patience and self-control were being tested, Kakashi was sure of it. The man he wanted was grinding against him and doing horribly wonderful things to his ear with his tongue, but he knew that if they did anything that night Iruka would regret it the next day. Not only that but it would also make things awkward and probably ruin any chance of them having any form of a relationship.

"Kashi, I wanna kiss you. Please, the mask." The lust in the Chunnin's voice almost pushed him over the edge. The tightness of his pants telling him how horrible of a person he was. He took the silver cloth off from over his eye and carefully tied it around Iruka's. Instead of pulling down his mask and giving the kiss they both wanted though, he flashed through some rarely used had signs and placed a sleeping jutsu on him. He caught the limp body and carefully carried into the bedroom. The jounin placed the sleeping man under the covers, removed his sandals and the blindfold, and looked down at him with a smile. He placed a light kiss to the scarred man's forehead and whispered "Goodnight."

After finding paper and a pen from the living room, where Iruka tended to grade papers, Kakashi wrote a quick note and stuck it to the fridge. He then sighed and teleported home.

~*Breaker o' the Line*~

**A/N –sighs- Goodness, it's 1 am and I have to do dishes now before my mom gets up in the morning ._. Well… How'd ya like this chapter? I'm not too sure about it yet. It was really fun to write Ruru as a flirty drunk (I don't know, makes sense to me for him to be like that) and poor Kashi trying to be responsible and not take advantage of him! A few things get explained a bit better next chapter by the way, like why Ruka is so well known at the dance club (cause he's a dancing MACHIENE of course) Actually, hehe, I kinda got that idea from another fic I read but I can't remember what it was (since I read so many friggin KakaIru fics that they all blend) otherwise I'd give them credit. Same with the nickname 'Ru-koi' Hope whoever had those ideas first don't mind me borrowing them for this one chapter (^.^') Review! Review! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OHMYGOD I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I know I haven't updated in forever and I'm sure you all probably hate me . Like Sherlock's hate for Anderson kind of hate. (For those of you that don't know…. Go watch BBC Sherlock.) It was the ending of the school year though and I had ton to study for and just a lot has been going down in my personal life. I know yawl don't care about my excuses but I really am sorry! -spreads my arms- Go head and smite me. My body is ready.**

Warnings: Same as usual.  
Disclaimer: Mine. It's all mine! The characters and place is all mine! That's why I'm broke and relying on a small hand fan with the handle taped down to keep my room cool. Isn't that obvious?  


~Breaker o' the line~

_Warm…. Hot… It's really hot… _Groaning, Iruka rolled over in bed to escape the smothering clutches of his blankets, only to groan again when the light streaming through his window assaulted his eyes. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and grabbed his head. Why the hell did it hurt so badly? Bits and pieces of the night before came back to him. "Damn it, this is why I don't drink." Iruka licked his chapped, sticky lips and squinted his eyes open. The Chunnin swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. The room swam for a moment and he had to bite his tongue to keep from puking all over the floor right then. After rushing to the bathroom and emptying the meager contents of his stomach, Iruka viciously scrubbed his teeth and changed into proper lounging/hangover clothes.

Cursing every squeak the floorboards made, the teacher went to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of aspirin from the cupboard (he kept it there for long nights of grading papers when he was too lazy to go to the bathroom to get it) and swallowed two of the white pills. Dropping down into a chair, Iruka tried to remember some of the details from the night before. He could recall going to the bar, waiting for Kakashi, drinking with him, telling someone he was gay, and going home. The fuzziness of everything just irked the man. He sighed in frustration and rubbed his temples, partially to try and ease the awful headache he had.

A white sheet of paper stuck on the fridge by one of the suddenly annoyingly-bright alphabet magnets caught his attention. Leaning forward, Iruka snatched it off to take a look at it. On one side was Kakashi's chicken scratch handwriting and on the other side was an essay he had yet to grade. Grumbling to himself, he turned the sheet over gain and read what the Jounin had written.

'_Iruka, when your hangover is gone, I'd like to take you for lunch.'_

Underneath the line, it was signed with a henohenomohiji . Down at the very bottom of the page it said,  
_'P.S Last night you were worried about your mission report, you may want to write that.'  
_Chocolate eyes darted to the blank mission papers tossed carelessly on the tabletop next to neat stacks of worksheets from the Academy. He groaned and reached for a pen, it had to be done.

Damn it, his day was going so well to. Well, besides the vomiting, head pounding, and overall hangover feel.

~Breaker o' the line~

4 hours, a freezing cold shower, and a clean pair of clothes later found Iruka looking at Kakashi's back. He just watched him a moment, both of them unmoving, before putting his 'I'm totally happy' face on. Mission reports were required to be as detailed as the writer can possibly manage, which caused Iruka to relive all of it. It was no better the second time around either. Trying to shrug the depressing feeling off, the Chunnin walked up to the man staring at the Memorial Stone. "Sorry I missed lunch, Kakashi-sensei." He said after a moment.

"Maa don't worry about it, Iruka."

"Iruka-_sensei _please."

"You weren't being very formal last night, _sensei, _why start it up again?" Kakashi smirked at the blush that formed on the teacher's cheeks.

"Ahh, yes… well," Iruka scratched at the scar on his nose, "I _was _hesitant to go drinking, you know that."

"Why?"

Iruka blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Why were you hesitant?" Kakashi looked at the shorter man from the corner of his eye.

"Because I don't drink often so I get drunk rather quickly and I get …. Flirty." The last word was all but whispered.

"I'm sorry," The jounin was glad his mask hid his grin as he leaned closer, "What was that last part?"  
Iruka felt his cheeks flare again, "I get flirty, okay? With pretty much anyone."

"You _were _pretty quick to grind on that civilian." Judging from the shocked and embarrassed look he was getting, Kakashi safely assumed that the teacher didn't recall that. "And you were pretty blunt when you told that lady you were gay."

Iruka could feel the heat coming off of his face as he scratched his facial scar again. "I'm not gay." He muttered, looking at the ground.

"But everyone you were …erm… dancing … with was a man." He might as well keep the fact that it was just him and that brief grind with the civilian was all the dancing Iruka had done to himself.  
"Bi, not gay."

The jounin studied the younger man for a moment. "Since you missed lunch, how about dinner?" He asked, giving the infamous eye smile.

Iruka looked back up at the silver haired ninja and grinned, "Sure." They both turned to leave, "No sake though." He added with a sheepish laugh.

Eventually they made it to some shop Iruka hadn't known about run by an elderly couple. There were a few scuffed tables, a short bar, and two back corner booths. Obviously, they sat in one of the more secluded seats. As they sat down, an older woman came up to them. "Welcome back, Kakashi-san, haven't seen ya in a while." She glanced at Iruka with a smile, "Who's your date?"

The Chunnin felt the blush rise to his face and was about to object the title when he was cut off. "Maa, I've been busy. This," The Jounin gestured to Iruka, "Is Iruka-sensei." The teacher quirked an eyebrow slightly when he didn't clarify to her that they weren't on a date.

The old woman's eyes lit up slightly as they switched to the brunette, "Ooh, you're a teacher?"

"Aah, yes I am, I teach pre-gennin at the Academy."

"My adorable little grandson goes there!" They ended up having a good 10 to 15 minute talk varying from rules and safety to how he taught lessons to the troublemakers in class while Kakashi watched quietly. Well, until Iruka's stomach decided to add to the conversation. Iruka laughed a little, embarrassed. He hadn't eaten anything that morning since his stomach was still doing loops from the hangover. "I'll go get your food, boys."

She smiled at them again before making her way back to her husband behind the counter. As she walked away, Iruka realized something. Turning to the other man at the table he said, "But we didn't order..."

Kakashi chuckled a little, surprising Iruka a bit. "I come here and order the same thing often enough that she stopped asking what I wanted quite a while back. She might just get you the same thing, I hope you don't mind." The jounin rubbed the back of his neck as he shot another eye smile.

Iruka laughed softly, "That's fine." Then re remembered something, "Hey, Kakashi, how come you didn't tell her we aren't on a date?"

"Although she might just bring you a roll of plain tuna over rice."

"Kakashi…"

"Or the miso soup."

"Kakashi."

"Maybe both."

"Kakashi!"

"Hell, she might just bright you the whole menu."

"Ka-_kashi!_"

Said man blinked, like he hadn't heard the other in the slightest. "Yes, Iruka?"

Iruka rolled his eyes at the feigned innocence, "Why didn't you tell her we aren't on a date?"

"You're not?" Both shinobi looked up at the slightly put-out grandmother. She placed a bowl of eggplant soup in front of Kakashi and a bowl of miso soup in front of Iruka. "He's never brought anyone in here all these years, I was hoping he'd finally found someone." She pointed a finger at Kakashi, "If you scratch the table again, I'll make you sand _all _of them this time."

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck. "Yes ma'am." With that, the woman sighed and made her way back to her husband.

Iruka looked back at Kakashi, who was looking at his bowl and quickly glancing around at the other tables. For a second he was confused before remembering that the man normally inhaled his food in one go. "Oh!" The silver-haired man looked up at the teacher. He grabbed one of the white cloth napkins from the table and leaned over to tie it around the other's lower face. He smiled as he worked on tying the knot behind the jounin's head without getting any of the silver locks caught in it. "Now you can enjoy your meal in more than one bite!" Iruka looked at his handy work and blushed when he realized how close his face was to Kakashi's shocked one. He quickly sat up straight again and busied himself inspecting what he got. Just plain miso soup, but it smelled good anyways.

"Thank you, Iruka." Kakashi pulled the face mask down around his neck, his face still covered by the napkin.

"Of course. You would have burned yourself on that had you tried to just swallow it."

They ate in comfortable silence for the next few moments, both of the men just enjoying their soup. They were almost done when Kakashi spoke up again, looking into his bowl with a strange expression, "Does it matter?"

Iruka lowered his full spoon from his mouth and looked at the other, "I'm sorry, what was that, Kakashi?"

"Does it matter?" He repeated, swirling his spoon around in his soup, "If it's a date, I mean."

Iruka blinked and stared at the man. "Are you saying you're interested in me?" He asked, confused. Kakashi gave a curt nod.

Well this changed things.

**Oh my, I couldn't really find a good place to cut this chapter off at. And I'm not overly happy with it :/ Which, given how long I had it I really should be but still… **

**Thanks for the lovely TWO reviews I got for the last chapter ._. Reviews urge me to update quicker!**

By the way, I have a ton of oneshots written out, should I update them?  
And how do YOU think Ruka should react? Thanks for reading!


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